Photo: RNZ / Reece Baker
No work has been done on the nurse bonding and relocation schemes National campaigned on in the election, the Health Ministry has confirmed.
Health Minister Simeon Brown has repeatedly avoided answering direct questions from RNZ about the continuation of the schemes, a key plank of National's health policies.
The scheme the party proposed in April 2023 would have seen the government put $4500 a year towards nurses and midwives' student loans starting in 2024. It was to be paired with a relocation programme offering up to $10,000 to up to 1000 qualified overseas nurses and midwives.
Nurses at the time were sceptical, saying it would be better to improve pay and conditions or make nursing tuition free.
Asked if any work had been done on the policy, the Health Ministry confirmed it "is not currently working on a standalone bonding scheme", pointing to other initiatives aimed at increasing the workforce.
These include the expansion of Health NZ's separate voluntary bonding scheme introduced under John Key's government, which Brown celebrated in a statement late last month.
RNZ questioned him in early May on progress with National's election policy.
"Well look, we announced I think last week a significant uplift in the number of bonded placements through Health NZ to bond a range of nurses and other health practitioners," he said, referring to Health NZ's scheme.
Put to him that was a different scheme, he said "and there's been a significant increase in the number of placements".
Asked if it was therefore no longer needed, he said: "Well, it's a significant increase in the number of places that we have made available in that existing bonding scheme", and asked directly if the election policy had been abandoned, he said "we're very focused on the current scheme ... and growing it".
Subsequent questions on Wednesday about the scheme were met with similar responses.
"Oh, look, as I announced a few weeks ago Health New Zealand's invested significantly more into the nurse bonding that it currently operates ... we're doing a lot to invest in more nurses, both in acute both in hospitals and in primary care ... the bonding system is something that we've continued to invest in."
Brown also brushed off written questions, his office's five-paragraph response answering none of RNZ's questions directly.
"National's health workforce policy was developed at a time when New Zealand was facing critical nurse shortages, driven by border closures and a failure to provide clear immigration pathways for nurses under the previous government," one said.
The new bonding scheme was costed at $46.8 million over three years starting in 2024/25, rising to $49.2m in 2027/28, with the relocation grants costing $10m a year over the same timeframe - the money all coming out of the savings expected from reducing government spending on contractors and consultants.
The policy remains on National's website.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon as recently as December said the scheme was still a "live" issue and while he could give no firm commitment on timing, "that programme is still something that [then-Health Minister] Shane Reti will work his way through".
Simeon Brown replaced Dr Reti as Health Minister the following month.
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